GLASSNER AUTUMN CHALLENGE

MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA OCTOBER 12, 2019

This is the 17th annual century ride held in memory of Dr. Jim Glassner, a longtime friend and supporter of cycling in central Alabama. An MBC Member, Jim was killed in a cycling accident on December 16, 2001. We renamed our century event (which we have been running since the 80’s) in his honor. He was an avid cyclist and the Autumn Challenge is dedicated to his love of cycling.

The 2019 Glassner Autumn Challenge presented by Max Credit Union will be held Saturday, October 12, 2019. The ride supports Montgomery Bike Club Cycling Safety Classes, Cycling Awareness Activities, and Bike Month. Please watch for upcoming links to even better 2019 routes, including the Glassner Capital City 200K which will be part of the 2019 Triple Crown Challenge!

Do you want to experience RADICAL SOUTHERN HOSPITALITY and FUN? Members of the Montgomery Bicycle Club understand that no one grasps the needs of cyclists better than fellow-cyclists and proudly serve as YOUR volunteers on Ride Day to ensure your needs are met!

The ride will begin and end at the New ASU Stadium located on Alabama State Universityat Pineleaf Street, Montgomery, AL. 36106 with a delicious sit down breakfast buffet (pancakes, hard-boiled eggs, grits, oatmeal, bacon, fresh fruit, muffins, orange juice, coffee, tea, and all the fixings) served in the fellowship hall from 5:00 to 9:30 a.m. When you return be ready for some old fashioned southern hospitality – tomato sandwiches, bacon, red beans and rice, and ice cream! Cost of the breakfast and post-ride meal is included in your registration.

GAC Primal Wear Jersey, Sleeveless Jersey, Shorts & Bibs

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Watch for upcoming news as details develop for this 2019 event!

The Glassner Capital City 200K will be part of the Triple Crown Double Metric Century Challenge (TCDMCC)! Complete our 3 Series DOUBLE METRICS and be recognized and rewarded at our final event, Gears & Beers in Mobile or via timely mail-outs. How to take part? Simply sign up for each ride and show us your miles!

Our Glassner Autumn Challenge organizers,Robert and Bonnie Traphan and members of the Montgomery Bike Club took on a lot this year! They stepped up their event with brand new headquarters at the Dunn-Oliver Acadome, added a Double-Metric route, plus followed the day up with a Sunday Gravel Grind. The time and physical work in planning and providing support for a weekend like this is overwhelming and efforts have paid off with very positive comments about both events.

The Montgomery Academy Sports provided packet-pickup and registration space on Thursday evening and the Acadome an area for Friday. MBC members stayed busy!

ASU and the Montgomery Community went all out in supporting and promoting the GAC! PA announcements kept things on schedule and by 7 am, riders were lined up and ready to roll.

Meanwhile, back on the course, MBC members were setting up Rest Stops to welcome riders in for a break.

By mid-morning all cyclists were out of sight at headquarters and MBC and ABCS volunteers began setup at the Start/Finish location to be ready to welcome them back.

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Special thanks to Alabama Power for sending an enthusiastic group of cowbell-ringers and to our ABCS Volunteers:

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Kudos to Marsha Burt and Nancy Melkerson for the wonderful photos!

Click this pic to see the GAC Awards Album!

GLASSNER AUTUMN CHALLENGE DOUBLE METRIC AND CENTURION Finishers are listed to the right. Let us know if you see any mistakes at bamabackroads@gmail.com

2018 Glassner Gravel Grind(GGG) 10/14/18

Basic Stats: The inaugural Glassner Gravel Grind hosted 70 riders, offering 4 total rest stops and supporting 3 courses: 67, 48, and 26 miles. Many beginners enjoyed the backroads pedaling gravel bikes for the first time! With a cool start and warm finish, all post ride comments regarding the courses were positive….so positive there may be a century option next year. No crashes, lots of hils, and tons of fun for riders and volunteers.

The routes ranged from hard packed red clay to washboard to loose recent gravel overfill, which gave riders a changing challenge to negotiate using different techniques. Some sections were separated by short runs of paved road, but the predominant surface was unpaved. Rest stops were hosted by local churches in some places and set up by GGG volunteer staff at opportune locations in other cases.Marbury H.S. was the venue for the start/finish.

The unpaved roads were marked with a lime spreader in white where routes were combined and over sprayed with paint color where individual routes diverged. Paved sections were marked by paint spray. Marking was done the day before to prevent rain from washing the lime away. Marking gravel roads is much slower going than marking paved roads but had good results.

The riders said the marking was good and the big arrows were appreciated for visibility while jouncing around at speed. All the riders spoken with were very complimentary on the route and the support. We did SAG out a couple of riders who requested it. No problems getting to them.No injuries, just got fatigued.

Rest stops were a smaller scale version of the GAC ride and used left over items where possible. Local pizza was purchased for the ride end and was appreciated by finishers.Beer was requested by some, but will not be served. Sufficient supplies were on hand of pizza and soft drinks.

Overall, a great first attempt for a new event!

Photos by Dawn McCrocklin

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2018 ROUTES

The 2018 Glassner Autumn Challenge has a brand-new headquarters at the Dunn-Oliver Acadome on Alabama State University. Our 6 routes are completely new for 2018.

GLASSNER AUTUMN CHALLENGE RIDE REPORT – October 2017

For all of you who were looking forward to our Penultimate GLASSNER AUTUMN CHALLENGE, we know you were not disappointed! With an impressive and professional atmosphere at headquarters, we were engulfed by the sound of safety announcements, welcomes, and music to get in the cycling spirit. Montgomery Bike Club volunteers, County Sheriff deputies, medical personnel, Montgomery Multisport and TREK bike mechanics were in abundance. A breakfast spread including hot-off-the-griddle pancakes by Billy Ritch and Jeffrey White and hosted by the Pintlala Baptist Church was enjoyed by all.

The grid send-off provided a safe exit for riders of all distances and abilities. With support from law enforcement, fantastic rest stops, and on-the-spot SAG drivers, all riders returned steadily during the day….all of this due to the leadership and organization of Ride Directors, Robert & Bonnie Traphan and the Montgomery Bike Club!

One of our favorite photos is this family! Check out the kids hoisting their bikes!

One of the GAC fabulous rest stops.

The MBC and Series Support Staff put in a long but fun day welcoming riders in with cheers, cowbells, and antics.

RIDE START PHOTOS BY MARSHA BURT

Click the pic to view photos!

FINISHERS’ PHOTOS BY MARSHA

Click the pic for great Awards photos from the Glassner Autumn Challenge! You can “hover” over many of them to see rider names.

We also awarded many patches to riders who accomplished their 4th century!

David Landry & Christine McBride with their ABCS patches!

Surely Dr. Glassner was smiling down on David and Nell Orange as they were drawn as winners of the Four Corners Gallery shadow box…can’t wait to see this one!

As always, Century finishers are listed to the right on this page. If you have any corrections, please let us know: bamabackroads@gmail.com

ROUTES/RSVP LINK

This is the RSVP link to the Glassner Autumn Challenge event on the Ride with GPS Club Account. This event has all five revised 2017 Glassner Autumn Challenge routes. When you RSVP to the event, you’ll get premium TCX/GPX exports, advanced PDF printing, and spoken turn-by-turn cues and warnings with the Ride With GPS smart phone app.

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4 Responses to GLASSNER AUTUMN CHALLENGE

The Glassner Autumn Challenge was a fantastic century and a great ride to end the Alabama Backroads Series for 2015. All of the routes (18, 55, 62, and 102.9 miles) took riders through rural central Alabama near Montgomery and offered gorgeous scenic views on tree-lined rolling hills of pastures, farmland, small communities and a variety of ponds, lakes, streams, and marshes. The ride organizers cleverly and thoughtfully designed routes that looped and criss-crossed in a manner that a biker was never on a stretch of road where other bikers were not present. This additional safety feature for the rider was appreciated and allowed the rider to get a second look at some of the surroundings. The roads were well marked and the maps of the routes were precise and riders were cautioned about current road conditions. The themed rest stops (we stopped at the Halloween, Tropical Paradise, and Road Kill rest stops) were strategically located and well spaced and staffed by enthusiastic volunteers who offered to valet park the bikes and help the riders fuel up for the next segment. The grilled items at the Road Kill rest stop (sausage and hamburgers, I think…) were a big hit with the riders. All routes were patrolled by police officers and sag wagons offering mechanical support and pick-up, and there was constant communication with other support personnel. The Montgomery Bicycle Club put on an excellent and very successful production – the result of many hours of hard work by passionate and involved cyclists. I would like to give a special thank you to Pixie and her staff for their thorough efforts in coordinating a very successful Backroads program. These opportunities for safe and supported rides are greatly appreciated and I enjoyed meeting cyclists from Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Florida, and Maryland this summer. I had the opportunity this year to ride in seven of the Backroads centuries – all were great rides and all were designed to show the diversity of the backroads in Alabama. I had a blast and have special memories of each ride. I would also like to thank my riding partners Ross Daniel, Joe Pate and Dale Robertson for helping me through some of the rides and adding to a memorable and enjoyable summer. On a final note, my wife Kitt and daughter Sarah became bonafide centurions on the Glassner Challenge with 102.9 miles and 3,429 feet of elevation. Kudos to them.